If you’re surprised to see Dice Kayek lettering on various pieces throughout this collection—the Turkish label steeped in Parisian flair is never one for trends—it might help to know that these are individual brooches you can customize according to your own name or slogan urges. Each has been delicately embellished with some random tiny thing: a salamander, a butterfly, a ringed planet, a crown, and so forth. On any of the crisp poplin shirts or oversize bonded sweatshirts, they appear cute and jewel-like—certainly more special than your average pin or patch.
For a brand that presents as impeccably polished, designer Ece Ege is always determined to signal its playful leanings. This explains why, for Spring, she pointed to the swingy shirtdress with oversize red polka dots as her starting point. “It’s joyful yet constructed,” Ege explained, ostensibly summing up the contents of the art gallery turned showroom. And with additional shades of pink, dusky blue, and yellow—somewhat Lichtenstein-esque in scheme—added to her default black, white, and navy, she was clearly thinking about how to propose her couture-like volumes with modulated freshness. The enlarged windowpane patterning on a ruffled Panama blouse and wrap skirt, for instance, might appeal to a different client than the one who turns to Dice Kayek for eveningwear, with its formal, flattering shapes. The cape layers with varying degrees of sculpt and surface detail would be welcome in anyone’s wardrobe, whether to address upper-arm concerns (Ege says she hears this a lot) or as a tailored jacket alternative.
This much is clear: Women who were loyal for so long to Lanvin and have given up hope for the foreseeable future should consider Dice Kayek to fill that gap. With full respect to Ege—her aesthetic is her own, as it has been for more than two decades—but her clothes look similarly deluxe and wearable; the fringes of sequins and pearls plus asymmetric tulle, all in the ease of a T-shirt suggest as much.
